Blue and Yellow
by fazewave
Summary: Katie is sick of Freddy's one-night stands thinks he could do a whole lot better, particularly with one of their band mates, so she sets out to do a little matchmaking. How will the results affect the band? SLASH! & RE-WRITTEN
1. Part One

Hello dear readers! I'd like to say, thanks a bunch for all the nice reviews, and for the ones containing constructive criticism. As an aspiring author, I see as important to receive both. Anyway, I'm really sorry for keeping you all waiting for so long for the updated version of "Blue and Yellow." I sincerely hope it was worth the wait, especially since I just suffered through a semester of Creative Writing. By the way, I don't think I'll make this a standalone either. In fact, I'm not sure how many parts it will have, however many it takes for me to write it, I guess?

--

Most fans don't like to imagine their favorite rock stars as people who once led normal lives where they ate, slept, breathed, and were forced to go to school in one particular area of the world, just like every other member of the working class in America. They'd rather idolize the musicians, put up posters that took up half of their bedroom walls and yell during their performances as if driven mad by the striking of a single cord on a guitar. In fact, it probably required actually being in a band to realize that just because you could play an instrument really well didn't mean you were a god. Sure, certain drummers liked to believe they were, but weren't stupid enough to actually convince themselves that they had unearthly powers. But hey, at least the part about being able to bag just about any chick stood true, a fact of life that had once again prevailed on that particular night.

Freddy Jones stumbled through the door of the School of Rock tour bus, a busty platinum blond glued to his side. Katie, who was sitting on the couch playing Guitar Hero, didn't have to look away from the small television screen to see what the cat had drug in that particular night. She was pretty sure that if she had to struggle through one more conversation with some chick that had no doubt been dropped on her head as a child and been handed everything on a silver platter her whole life, she'd puke. Keep down the amazing Chinese food she'd had for lunch earlier that day, or end up wearing it? It didn't really require too much thought...

"Hey Katie-baby! Where is everyone?" Freddy slurred cheerily as he and the girl made their way through the bus, stopping by the couch.

"Call me Katie-baby again and I'll snap your fucking neck." She replied distractedly as she focused on a particularly challenging series of notes in the song she was playing. "Tomika went to Target to pick up some shit she needed and forced Zack to go with her since Summer had to go see her grandma in the hospital, Lawrence, or 'Larry' as I guess he likes to be called now, is listening to music in his bunk, and Dewey's off getting wasted in some bar."

"Alrighty then! Me 'n Kelly will be in the back if you need us..." Freddy informed her with grin before heading off again.

"Ugh, poor Larry." Katie mused softly, pushing the button to continue once she'd finished the song.

"What was that?" Freddy's voice drifted towards the front area, mixed with Kelly's oh-so-pleasant giggling. She was going to bring Spring back within minutes... Seriously, how could any guy stand females that seemed to have taken up annoying as an official job title?

"Nothing, now go make love to your catch of the night." Katie rolled her eyes and chose 'Less Talk More Rokk' to play next, if only because she needed cheering up and quick, not to mention, to distract her from the graphic sound effects that would be coming soon.

About half an hour later, Zack and Tomekia made their entrance. It sounded as if she was once again complaining about the other two back-up vocalists choosing to stay behind instead of coming along on the tour. They seemed to care so little about the band any more, that most of the members assumed they'd be quitting soon, but none of them had the heart to share their suspicion with Tomekia. Luckily, Zack was one of those people who could sit through hours of listening to other people talk and still come out completely unscathed. If more people were like him, the world would be a much better place, no doubt.

"I wish I could hear one of Alicia's jokes right now..." Tomekia sighed.

"I know." Zack spoke soothingly, reaching over to pat her on the arm, then looked over to where Katie was sitting. "How's it going, Katie?"

"Oh, I've had better days," she grunted. "By the way, I'd refrain from traveling to the back forty just yet. You-Know-Who, and I don't mean Voldemort, has brought another prize home for the night."

"Lovely. Just the type of music I was hoping to hear tonight!" Tomekia rolled her eyes. "I hope Larry has his turned up high enough if he's back there... I don't know why Freddy can't just wait until we get to a hotel or something."

"Ditto." Katie shook her head at the unfairness of it all, then winced as the squeaky noise that meant she'd missed a few notes spilled from the speakers of the television.

Tomekia sighed again and headed in the direction of the bathroom, not the most ideal place in the world to be bathing, but females had to worry about doing so more frequently than guys, so sometimes it was necessary. You just got used to it after awhile, if you were smart.

"Guess I'll just chill here..." Zack smiled wanly and sank down onto the couch next to Katie. A loud, girlish moan was suddenly heard, followed by more obnoxious laughter. A pained expression shot across Zack's face as he glanced towards the hallway. Normally, Katie would have assumed that he was expressing the fact that he was just as disgusted as her, but this time she got the feeling it went a little deeper than that.

"Hey Zack, you okay, other than the fact that our considerate drummer couldn't hold out on the sex for a day or two?" She asked.

"Yeah, fine," he murmured, avoiding her gaze by pretending to search for his cigarettes, even though he knew exactly where he'd placed them last.

"Liar," Katie replied curtly. She'd known Zack Moonyham since preschool, not to mention he was as easy to read as an open book. Alright, and maybe it didn't hurt that she had a female's intuition on her side, either?

"Excuse me?" he arched an eyebrow as he narrowly avoided crushing the small carton now clutched in his right hand.

"You heard me. Now cough it up, or I'm going to sit on you or something until you do," she demanded, folding her arms across her chest for good measure.

Zack stalled by lighting up and taking a long drag, but there was no ignoring the dark brown eyes attempting to burn holes into him. Knowing Katie, she'd probably achieve it one day, best not to make it that particular night...

"What if-" he began, not really sure how to start. He'd kept the secret for so long that he'd become adept at hiding it, and now that he could let it out, the feat was nearly impossible. He took another quick drag and started to speak again, drawing strength from the nicotine. "What if I had a crush on one of our band mates?"

"Oh my God, you have a crush on Freddy?" Katie squeaked. It took every ounce of her willpower not to yell out the words. This was pretty shocking news. Maybe Zack wasn't as much of an open book as she'd been led to believe? She wasn't sure whether to be pleased or unnerved by such a realization, so settling for a mixture would have to do for the time being. "Since when?"

"Since we started high school... Shit, I can't believe I'm telling you this!" Zack moaned planting his forehead in his free palm. Katie wrinkled her nose as the cigarette smoke curled up and into her nose. She'd always thought it was a nasty habit, but when it came to talking the guys into quitting, she might as well have been holding a conversation with a brick wall.

"Why, you don't trust me?" Katie questioned, a hint of pain obvious in her tone. "Listen, if you don't want me telling him how you feel, then I won't," she assured. "But don't think I'm not going to stay on your case until you do something about it."

"What? Katie, I can't do anything about it!" Zack cried. "Last time I checked, Freddy was straight as a fucking flag pole and it's not going to change any time soon."

"How do you know that?" Katie arched an eyebrow, a small smirk spreading across her ruby lips. A plan was already beginning to formulate in her mind, and lucky her, Summer wasn't around to put an end to it before things got off the ground.

--

Katie's plan was simple, really, or at least she told herself it would be. That was all she needed to set everything in motion, along with the firm belief that Freddy was a major closet case. Yeah, he had a new girl in his lap every night, but who was to say that wasn't a cover-up? The more she paid attention to the way he and Zack interacted, the more justified she felt in her assumption, that she was doing the right thing by meddling a little.

At long last they'd arrived at a hotel, but hadn't had much time to enjoy it since they had a show later that night. It calculated into Katie's plan perfectly, however. Everyone was always wired after playing their hearts out to thousands of fans and willing to do just about anything, including getting drunk off their asses. Even Zack, the assumed 'straightedge' of the group could be bothered to accept a little vodka in his Red Bull.

Once everyone seemed to have enough alcohol in their systems, she attempted to get their attention. If she'd allowed herself to get as trashed as usual, she knew it wouldn't have been so annoying that their attention was on everything but her, but she'd have to make do with what she was able to get. It was that or see her plan fall through.

"Guys, let's play Spin the Bottle!" Katie made sure to feign a bit of a slur so that her random suggestion could be blamed on one too many beers. The guys would never let her forget otherwise because hey, everyone did stupid shit when they were drunk, right?

Tomekia giggled as if she were one of the preteen girls that typically enjoyed playing such a game, Zack just stared, poor Larry was already passed out because it wasn't just coincidental that 'lightweight' and 'Larry' began with l's, and Freddy smirked.

"Alright," he agreed. "There's only two chicks though."

"Freddy, Larry's passed out and probably won't wake back up until about noon tomorrow," Katie rolled her eyes. "Or are you chicken?"

"No!" he balked. "Let's do it."

"How 'bout you guys?" Katie turned to look at Zack and Tomekia.

"I haven't played this game in _forever_!" Tomekia giggled again. "So yep, I'm in!"

"What about you, Zack?" Katie pressed.

"I don't know..." he muttered. "I like you guys and all, but-"

"Oh, come on Zacky-Poo!" Freddy urged, swinging an arm around his band mate's shoulders, nearly missing in the process. "_You're_ not a chicken either, are you?"

Zack shook his head slowly. "No way man. I'm down."

"Good, everyone's on board then," Kate gave a nod of approval before leaning out of their mock circle to grab one of the empty beer bottles that cluttered the floor, then placed it in the middle. "So, who wants to go first?"

"_I_ will," Freddy was quick to volunteer, smirking. Wobbling a bit, he reached forward to spin it, eyes going a bit wide when it landed on Zack.

"Oh, shouldn't have been in such a big hurry to spin," Katie teased.

"Get on with it!" Tomekia demanded gleefully, holding up her drink in cheers.

"Fine, just shut the fuck up already," Freddy laughed at her as he edged closer to Zack.

Katie did her best to ignore the slightly panicked expression Zack shot her, telling herself it was for his own good. And if he didn't get what he wanted out of it? Well, that possibility was best considered at at a later date, far as she was concerned.

She gnawed anxiously on her bottom lip as she watched them draw closer and closer by the second, and held her breath when their lips connected. When they didn't pull apart immediately, she emptied her lungs of the oxygen. It could only be a good sign...


	2. Part Two

I'm sorry, yet again, for taking so long to write this, but today I was in town with my dad, and "Long Way to the Top" came on. You know, the song School of Rock plays at the very end? Only, it was ACDC's version... Anyway, I took it as a message to get back to writing the story, so here you go, the second part at long last.

--

Something was wrong. Zack wasn't stupid, he could tell by the way Freddy would hardly meet his eyes and only talked to him if he needed something. The most interaction had occurred between them when Freddy had asked for the salt during breakfast in the hotel restaurant that morning.

What had he done wrong? Did he accidentally leave a scratch on Freddy's drum kit? Stretch out one of his favorite band shirts? He highly doubted the last one, because he hadn't put on a growth spurt recently, at least not to his knowledge, and if it had been something as simple as a damaging a piece of equipment, the matter would've already been settled. So, what was it then?

Since they had a free day, everyone decided to go check out the local mall, and agreed to meet for lunch. Since Freddy seemed determined not to come near Zack with a ten foot pole, he oped for hanging out with Gordon, Marco, Frankie, Leonard, and Dewey. They (minus Dewey) didn't share the bus with the band, but stuck with them like glue any other time and were nice enough.

Zack soon regretted his choice when his little group made a beeline for Spencer's, the posters of scantly clad women in particular, but much to his surprise, Dewey chose to linger behind, giving his best attempt to look casual about it. His knack for wearing his emotions on his sleeve served as both a blessing and a curse, the latter usually for himself.

"Hey dude," Dewey flashed a strained grin.

"Hey," Zack grunted. He had a feeling that he knew what Dewey was going to talk to him about.

"So, I noticed you and Freddy didn't stick together today..."

"Touché, Captain Obvious," Zack snorted in amusement, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, you know how I hate to pry, but do you wanna tell me why my drummer and lead guitarist suddenly aren't speaking to each other?" Dewey nudged Zack suggestively, in what Zack guessed to be his usual effort to add humor to the situation.

Zack sighed. "I really wish I could tell you why he's pissed at me, but I'm just as knowledgeable as you," he shrugged.

"You guys didn't happen to get drunk last night, did you?" Dewey asked. "I think I remember buying you guys some celebratory booze since the concert went so well, but I can't be sure."

Zack's eyes widened in horror. "Shit. You think I did something that pissed him off last night? I tend not to hold my liquor as well as him..."

Dewey smiled wanly. "You never know man, but I wouldn't let it go too long. You guys have been friends since like-"

"Kindergarten, yeah," Zack nodded. "You're right, I'll try to talk to him. It's just a matter of him being willing or not."

--

It felt like decades later when lunchtime finally rolled around, probably because of the multiple stores Zack had been drug in against his will, but it might just have had something to do with the fact that he still needed to figure out what was up with Freddy and now knew that Dewey was watching to make sure he did it, too.

As was to be expected, Katie and Freddy were the last two to show up in the food court. They looked slightly worn out, but amused. As soon as Zack's eyes met Freddy's though, the expression disappeared so fast that it was hard to believe it'd even been there just a few seconds ago.

Katie noticed the exchange, gave a small shrug, and smiled sympathetically, as if apologizing for something. Right then he knew it was her that he needed to go to if he wanted to figure out just what the hell was going on. Chances were, she'd instigated it...

Once everyone began to go their separate ways again, Zack grasped Katie's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"Hey, hold on a minute. I wanna talk to you," he ordered.

She tensed up, but remained where she was, watching wistfully as Freddy and Tomekia headed off towards Target. Oh, she'd definitely been up to something, and now it was time for her to own up to it. Besides, it seemed like Freddy already knew what had happened, so it was about time Zack got clued in on it all.

"So, why is Freddy pissed at me," he asked bluntly.

"What are you talking about?" Katie feigned ignorance, but not well enough.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about," Zack eyed her skeptically. "I want to know what kind of shit you're up to, and I want to know now."

She glanced away and began to gnaw on her lip. "Uh, well, you know how I figured out you like Freddy and all?"

Zack's breath caught, and a shot of adrenaline seared through his body. Now he was beginning to catch on, and starting to regret the confrontation. "Yes? Now, please deliver the verdict, even though I know I don't want to hear it."

"Last night I got you guys drunk enough to play Truth or Dare, and you kissed," the words spilled out of her mouth in a barely distinguishable jumble. "Freddy happened to remember, because he could drink even Dewey under the table, so that's why he's really awkward around you now?"

Zack jerked his hand away from Katie's shoulder as if he'd just found out she had a contagious disease. This could not be happening to him! His best friend now wanted nothing to do with him because one of his band mates had taken it upon herself to meddle in his love life? It had to be one giant nightmare, that he'd wake up from in a few minutes, right? To be sure, clichéd as it was, he reached down to pinch his arm. He winced slightly at the pan, and the confirmation it was all really happening.

"God, I need a cigarette," he moaned. "I can't believe you did this, Katie. I don't know who you thought you'd be doing a favor by fucking up mine and Freddy's relationship."

"In my defense, I know it was for the best. You guys will work things out, and you'll thank me later. Mark my words Zack!" she warned.

"Yeah, whatever," Zack was so angry that he could hardly think. "Luckily, I still have half a pack of cigarettes, so I'm going to go sit outside and bring upon my death a little faster at the risk of taking the lives of innocent bystanders."

He could feel her eyes burning into his back as he stalked off towards the doors, which only made him hunch over further. He dearly hoped that she felt guilty for what she'd done, because if he and Freddy were unable to patch things up, it could very well mean the end of the band.

--

Things only seemed to become more tense over the next couple of days. Sure, they could put aside their drama for the sake of putting on a good show, which only proved how dedicated they were to being musicians. The fact that Zack was starting to become a chain smoker just wasn't cutting it, though.

Summer joined them in Vegas, and immediately picked up on the tension. After all, it wasn't like she'd been born yesterday, as she still so frequently reminded the motley crew under her management, because to that day, they attempted to pull fast ones on her.

Since they still had a couple hours before they were due to go on that night, Zack had wondered out to one of the picnic benches near the tour bus, guitar in hand and yet another cigarette between his lips. He looked every bit the struggling musician, even though music was the furthest from his concerns.

Having seen him exit the tour bus out of the corner of her eye, Summer decided to follow him. If anyone could get Zack to open up and feel better about whatever it was that was bothering him, it was her. She'd sort of made it her mission, ever since she developed an unrequited crush on him back in sixth grade. Eventually, she'd moved on, because honestly? Why ruin such a great friendship, and maybe she'd picked up on the fact that he didn't seem as obsessed with girls as the rest of the guys did? She kept the suspicion to herself, though, figuring he'd tell her when the time was right.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" she requested politely.

"I guess not," Zack gave a half-hearted shrug.

"So, it seems like something is bothering you..." she knew it was wrong to pressure him, but sometimes all he needed was a little shove in the right direction.

He took a long drag from his cigarette, holding in the smoke as long as he could before he started to feel the sting of the nicotine in his lungs. Did he really want to drag Summer into the mess, especially after she'd nearly lost her grandma?

"It's... complicated," he said finally, putting the cigarette to his lips again. "Let me put it this way, Katie meddled where she shouldn't have and made things complicated between Freddy and I. Now I have to start cleaning up, but I have absolutely no idea where to begin."

"I suppose you're not going to tell me exactly what kind of meddling Katie did?" Summer waved away some of the smoke that blown in her direction.

"Sorry, wind changed..." Zack muttered. "I'd rather not, but you've got the gist of it. It's not like you can do anything about it anyway. It's not your problem to fix."

Summer did feel like she did have the "gist" of it, truth be told. In fact, along with picking up on Zack's sexuality, she'd also noticed an undertone of sexual tension between him and Freddy, and obviously she wasn't the only one. The only difference was, she hadn't had the nerve to act on it unlike Katie had. She couldn't exactly admit whose side she was really on though, so she remained silent as Zack began to play the opening cords to some Beatles song.

--

"Katie, what did you do?" Summer had caught her backstage after the show was over.

"I knew you'd figure it out..." Katie shook her head, smiling grimly. "I just got them to play Truth or Dare when they were both drunk and they ended up kissing. Freddy's still determined to believe that the only thing he'd put his dick in is a vagina, and Zack is too much of a chicken shit to confront him."

Summer was silent for a moment, absorbing the information. Katie's method had been a little... crude, but admirable all the same. She never would've done something like that; it just wasn't in her nature, and she'd get teased for years afterward. "Wow, that had to take some guts..."

Katie blinked in surprise. "You- you're not mad?"

"Of course not!" Summer huffed, hands on her hips. "It's about time someone did something. You set things in motion, so now it's time to just sit back and let them work things out on their own. It's really about the only thing we can do."

"So, you picked up on it too, huh?" it was more of a rhetorical question than anything, but Katie was so shocked that she'd spoken aloud.

"It was obvious to anyone with half a brain, which would explain why we're the only ones that noticed." Summer smirked.

"You know, I think that's the most logical thing I've heard all week," Katie laughed. "Now what do you say we head back to the dressing room. There's some ice cold water in the mini fridge that's calling my name, unless Freddy has guzzled it all by now."

Summer gestured for Katie to lead the way. It looked like they were a team now...


End file.
